1 + 2 + 3

The Fort William agricultural show was on last Saturday, and albeit we didn’t make it there, we were reflecting whilst doing some wild foraging (Chanterelles are starting to bloom) on being there the previous year.

A whole years past and and how things change. Dependants (other than our sourdough starter) now includes Moss the dog and baby Verity. They all require regular feeds, some a bit more than flour and water). Abs is on maternity and we’re moving down the road to build a house and work a croft, including a barn with a wee bake house. We’re still got the bread bug to bake, and just need to build a place to do it.

Last year we offfically launched doughies at the agricultural show (albeit it had been fermenting as an idea for some time)- a real bread bakery in Lochaber. Following on from this we ran a weekly bread bag trial from the local Farmshop and started doing oven loads for local people and businesses. Surprisingly, the bakes we enjoyed most were the bigger bakes for business, along with the bigger bakes for shows & markets. The weekly bread bag concept works elsewhere but maybe not so in the highlands. The main thing for us was baking and sharing real bread; the bread bag felt too much like figuring out the logistics of a food distribution business.

We figure if the bread is good, you can just get on and concentrate on the main thing (baking bread) and let the distribution and sales thereof work itself out.

And in our weekend musing we asked this – where do we imagine doughies to be in one years time? How about two? Three?

Now plans set you up for failure. But goals are good. They are not as rigid and unbending as plans – it doesn’t matter how you get there (aslong as you have guiding principles so you don’t stray too far) and so here’s a few goals we have at doughies for the next few years:-

Now + 1 year = be at the Fort William Agricultural show 2014, with an oven load of fresh baked sourdough

Now + 2 years = be regularly firing the oven once a week, baking 100 loaves a time, selling word of mouth.

Now + 3 years = be regular firing he oven several times a week, baking 150 loaves at a time, distributed locally, turning over a sustainable supportive income.

Why am I telling you this? Because procrastination and distractions can easily get in the way, and writing down in the cloud comes with it an unavoidable sense of peer pressure and encouragement.

So see you in a years time at the Agri show. It’s going to be a fun ride.